Various nappy costs?

[Rhian82]

I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant and thinking about nappies. Now DH and I are certain that we want to use reusables, but we're not sure yet about whether to use the local nappy laundry. We're very short on money so this is likely to be a big factor! The laundry is £8 a week and uses prefolds, you just buy the wraps which are between £6-£8.50.

I was wondering? how much does everyone else spend on nappies? Obviously I'm mainly interested in how much people have spent on reusables, but I'd also be interested in how much people that use disposables spend a week, just to see how it stacks up.

Also, how do people find prefolds as opposed to other types of reusables? And is having to store the dirty prefolds for a week before they're collected going to be really stinky and unbearable??!

With newborns you will use a lot of nappies in the early weeks - say up to 10-12 at least over 24 hours.

For a baby between 6-8 months I would say this reduces to around 6-8 nappies.

My dd2 is 13 months and we use mainly reusables, about 6 or so per day. If I used 6 disposables that would be 42 per week. There are 34 in a pack (her size is size 4) , so we are looking at just over a pack per week. Cost for supermarket brand is around £4 per pack, Huggies/Pampers around £6. So if using supermarket you are looking at around £5 per week, plus cost of wipes, say 1-2 packs per week.

I use reusables mainly, with washable wipes (like small flannels). I personally wouldn't like wet and dirty nappies in the house (or even garden!) for a week. Could you not wash yourselves, or consider it?

Cheapest way imo is to wash at home every 2-3 days then line dry or get a big rack (will need both really in this country due to the weather)

You could get more tailored advice from one of the mners (such as Flame) who are on the small business section of this site. Also you could ask advice about buying second hand nappies. I imagine that as you will in effect be using nappies that other babies have worn (obviously after being laundered by the laundry service) you would consider buying some second hand?

imo £8 for the laundry is a lot of money particularly as you are trying to save money.

A weeks worth of nappies would be really stinky; I usually wash them every third day and they smell a lot worse if I leave it an extra day.

Why not buy some second-hand? There's a reusable nappy section in the nbuy and sell section here.
In fact someone's selling a load of Wonderoos for £3 each today, or £50 for all 18 nappies which is very good value. Wonderoos are nice pocket nappies, and are one-size

£8 a week - geesh! No way! £8 would buy you a very decent cloth nappy brand new which you could resell when you had finished with it. If you bought 16 nappies and 4 wraps that would be the same as using the laundry service for only 20 weeks (not including the cost of wraps which you say you'd have to buy - but you can offset that against your laundry costs which wouldn't be that much)

Yes your own laundry costs would be significantly less than the laundry service. (particularly if you don't tumble dry)

id buy second hand reusables and wash them yourself, as advised so far. got to be the cheapest way... and ive never used prefolds but they look a faff to me. and if you are the only one who knows how to do them you'll have to do EVERY change. sod that for a laugh (you'll no doubt be doing most anyway, but never able to pass the buck... not fun)

Just for comparison, if you wanted to go the cheapest route, you could get brand new terry squares for about 2 pounds each. Wraps are something worth investing in IMO motherease airflow are the best, 4 is enough. They are 8.50 each.

Your local nappy project there are incentive schemes in your area and a trial kits system in operation (all details in that link).

www.realnappycampaign.com has more info.

tbh I highly recommend you take advantage of any trial scheme or one to one tailored advice you can get. There are loads of local advisors in your area and it would be a big help if you could get your hands on the actual nappies to see what they are really like.

Prefolds aren't the best nappies out there. Although some people love them and use them up to potty training most stop using them when their DC gets mobile because they can be prone to leaks.

I wouldn't like to say what I have spend on cloth nappies - but I do know! My 'account' is in credit even though I currently have two in cloth - the reason being is that I used to play the cloth nappy market . I sold my first batch of nappies for more than I paid for them new . If you use reusable wipes you'll save a lot more - wipes are so expensive!

'The Cost Comparison - Real Washable Cloth Nappies v Disposable Nappies'

don't bother with the laundry service, just wash em yourself every few days. saves money and also the hassle of a week's worth of smelly nappies. pong.

I started off with totsbots cotton and bought about 15 plus 3 wraps. I'm still using some of them now on my third child, so they were good value for money! sadly, I since discovered the delights of many other types of washable nappies, particularly pocket nappies. if you plan on saving money, do not check out pocketbots or weenotions nappies as you'll end up spending all your money on cute new patterns.

with dd, I decided to indulge and got a stash of lots of different kinds of nappies in size 1. i got a whole load second hand as well. then decided which were my faves to get in size 2 and sold the size 1's for about the same price I paid for them. so it is possible for real nappies to be pretty much free.

Thanks everyone! It was mainly DH that was pro the laundry service (trying to make things easier for me I think) but reading him the comments here and showing how much more expensive it really would be has helped convince him. We've had a general chat about nappies and are going to buy a few trial ones to check which we like, then do our best to get as many of those second hand as we can, then top up with new ones if necessary. Should all work out for the best!

Thanks again

Just keep an eye on the For Sale board here, and join the Yahoo real nappy sale list - you can also place a Wanted ad on these too for specific nappies that you want to try.

I'm currently selling off my nappy stash after DS potty trained - the second hand nappies I bought have actually effectively cost me 50p each which is amazing value

Just keep an eye on the For Sale board here, and join the Yahoo real nappy sale list - you can also place a Wanted ad on these too for specific nappies that you want to try.

I'm currently selling off my nappy stash after DS potty trained - the second hand nappies I bought have actually effectively cost me 50p each which is amazing value

Check out if your local council has a real nappy offer. Also join freecycle! Don't think I paid full whack for any of our eclectic selection.

also try littlekiwi nappies. If you buy up there the nappies and wraps are only £5.99 each.